Breyer's Cyclone

This is an interesting new frozen treat. It comes in two flavors (that I've seen) - Caramel Tracks and Cookies & Cream.

Now basically, from what I can tell, the gimmick here is "Soft 'n Creamy," which is printed on the label. I'm pretty sure that's what they're trying to market. They're trying to say that this is like soft serve ice cream in your own freezer (a feat that has never been successfully accomplished). Soft serve ice cream with chunky stuff blended into it. -- Sort of like a Dairy Queen Blizzard.

So, I bit. I grabbed a carton of the Caramel Tracks (which is basically like mini reese's peanut butter cups that are filled with caramel instead of peanut butter) and I took it home. I had to find out:
A - ...if they could truly capture the essence of a Dairy Queen Blizzard and...
B - ...if it would truly be soft and stay soft in my freezer.

So, here's what was discovered: Me and the Mrs. Pappy both had a decent sized mug full of the stuff as we honkered down for a little TV viewing. (I believe it was "24," which may or may not have affected the taste. Probably not.)

Bottom line - It tasted pretty good! It was relatively soft - not as soft as fresh soft serve from an ice cream stand - but definitely softer than regular ice cream. And the chunkiness was top notch - plenty of mix-ins - a healthy mouthful of caramel and caramel cups in every bite. One worrisome thought did come to mind though - How do they keep it soft? I was a little concerned. It could be some new gelatinous emulsifier gum product, or the such, that's not quite been fully approved by the FDA, yet not banned because it is made from 17 other chemicals that are all approved, but the actual compound is still being tested. Regardless, I tried not to think about that since the stuff tasted good.

But then, and here's the next big test, I tried it 2 days later. The result was disappointing. It was not soft anymore after sitting in my freezer for 2 days. What's that all about? It had turned into the same hard consistency as other regular ice cream. And this brought on an additional problem because it wasn't quite the same as regular ice cream. In fact, Breyer's never even claims that it is actually ice cream. I noticed on the carton that it is referred to as "frozen dairy" treat. That's the catch. That's sort of their way of going for the Dairy Queen Blizzard effect. But they don't quite get there.

So all in all, I would tentatively recommend this product if you can get it in good shape and eat it right away, while it's still soft. If you stick it in your freezer and let it harden up, you'll be disappointed (unless your freezer is set to the secret magic temperature required to keep the cyclone at soft serve consistency - then you'll be fine. But good luck figuring that out. It's not printed on the carton.)